Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Information on this website is compiled by Punto24 (Platform for Independent Journalism) from open sources.

Journalists in State of Emergency – 16

Four more journalists were arrested on Sept. 2 as part of the investigation launched after the July 15 coup attempt, officially named the “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY)” investigation.

Haberdar columnist Murat Aksoy; pop singer and more recently Meydan columnist Atilla Taş; Millet Newspaper’s Newsroom Coordinator Mutlu Çölgeçen, and columnist for the Türk Solu newspaper Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu were arrested on Sept. 2 in the “FETÖ/PDY” probe. Detention warrants had been issued for the four journalists on Aug. 30, along with 31 other journalists.
Out of the 31 on the same list, eight others had been detained in late August. Former NTV news editor Alparslan Akkuş, former Zaman columnist Nurullah Öztürk, former Samanyolu Haber columnist Rasih Yılmaz and former Ankara bureau chief for the Meydan daily, Ömer Şahin were released by prosecutors.
Four others – Hürriyet’s online news editor Dinçer Gökçe, former Bugün daily reporter İskender Yunus Tiryaki, Postmedya.com news site executive Levent Arap, and Ayhan Şimşek — were released on probation, meaning they will have to check in regularly with their local police department and are barred from travel outside the country.
On Sept. 1, Alaattin Kaya, who formerly owned the rights to the Zaman Newspaper, was arrested in the post coup probe.

Authorities seize Dilek Dündar’s passport

On Sept. 3, police at Atatürk Airport seized the passport of Dilek Dündar, wife of former Cumhuriyet Editor-in-chief Can Dündar. Dilek Dündar’s passport was confiscated while she was preparing to travel to Germany. Her passport’s seizure has caused concerns regarding allegations of mistreatment of suspect relatives in the post-coup investigation to resurface.

In a statement he made on Aug. 21, Can Dündar said that he feared he would be tried for “aiding FETÖ” over a Cumhuriyet report titled “MİT trucks,” detailing an alleged weapons transfer to armed opposition groups in Syria loaded on trucks owned by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT).

Trial against former Taraf execs over ‘’Egemen Operation Plan’’

The first hearing in the trial of journalists Mehmet Baransu, Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur over the publication of military plans called the “Egemen Operation Plan” – although publicly it is generally believed to be about the “Balyoz Operation Plan” — was held on Sept. 2 at the Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul.

The 13th Criminal Court, which is hearing the trial, ruled to return Mehmet Baransu, who has been jailed since March 2, 2015 as part of the investigation, to prison.

Developments concerning journalists outside coup probe

On Sept. 1, Dice News Agency (DİHA) reporter Sebahattin Koyuncu was arrested over an interview with deputies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Koyuncu had earlier been detained for three days in August, but later released.

Another DİHA reporter, Engin Eren, who had been in detention for 17 days, was released on Aug. 29.

On Sept. 2, 13 out of the 23 employees of the Kurdish-language Azadiya Welat daily, whose central Diyarbakır office was raided on Aug. 28 , were released on Sept. 2.

Two reporters from the Evrensel daily – Cemil Uğur and Halil İbrahim Polat detained on Aug. 23 in Mersin Province – were threatened with death and were subjected to mistreatment, insults and violence in custody, Evrensel has reported.

115 journalists in prison

The number of journalists, newspaper owners or newspaper rights’ owners who are in prison in Turkey has reached 115 with the recent arrests. It is likely, however, that the actual number is higher as this figure does not include those journalists who might have been arrested without this information being published in any news source. Nor does it include the individuals who are known to be journalists and in detention or under arrest, on account of the authorities’ not releasing their names in previous operations against media organizations.

Last known legal status of journalists for whom detention warrants have been issued as part of post-coup probe

Abdullah Abdulkadiroğlu, Samanyolu TV, Left the country according to AA

Detain / Place in custody: To hold in police custody for police interrogation first, and later for testimony to a prosecutor. Might lead to a court appearance depending on the action taken by the prosecutor. Arrest: To put into prison indefinitely – by court order – pending trial. Released on probation: Released with an international flight ban issued. Usually entails checking in regularly with a designated police station.

These lists have been compiled by P24 editors from open news sources and will be updated regularly. Journalists who want to report developments about themselves or their colleagues can contact us at punto24info@gmail.com